'Plants vs. Zombies' (iPhone)

Also available for: PCGenre: Tower DefenseDeveloper:PopCap GamesPublisher: PopCap Games

Casual gaming has experienced a great boom since the emergence of digital distribution and the rise of mobile devices as entertainment platforms. PopCap Games has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of this, capitalising on idle thumbs with the kind of infectious titles that require months of rehab to put down. Plants vs. Zombies is the latest of such offerings to follow in the wake of Peggle and find its way onto the iPhone. Brains aren't the only thing at risk of being devoured in this tower defense sim. Be sure to have somebody close at hand to forcibly remove your handset, else your weekend could be consumed too.

Like PopCap's other casual fare, Plants vs. Zombies is a fiendishly addictive title. It is to a gamer what gin is to an alcoholic, but playability is really only half the battle. So, to establish whether this is a truly good game we need to delve beneath the surface. To compare it to the some of the high-end App Store titles is grossly unfair, yet pigeonholing into a category with other casual fare doesn't seem appropriate either, given that there is a good deal more depth to this one than most other games of its kind.

As with its PC forebear, the object of the game is to defend your home from an onslaught of zombies by raising a garden of defensive plants. The player starts out with just a handful of seeds to sow, but before long you have enough to fill several acres. Loosely speaking, plants can be divided into two categories - offensive and defensive. Peashooters pelt the undead with projectiles and are the most basic example of an offensive plant, while Wall-nuts block your enemies path, slowing them to a crawl while they chomp their way through the blockade. Cherry Bombs and Doom-shrooms have an explosive effect capable of clearing the screen of enemies when used effectively. Other seeds serve entirely different functions. In order to cultivate your army you must collect sunrays, so planting Sunflowers will help you generate enough to access some of the more impressive plants.

Plants aren't the only thing that come in a variety of shapes and sizes. There's a healthy level of diversity on the zombie front to keep you on your toes. During the early stages, the game throws basic foes at you that go down easily under a barrage of peas. However, it isn't long before they don traffic cones and buckets as makeshift helmets, carry screen doors as shields and come at you in waves. Later stages feature entirely different foes, such as the tough football zombie and the evasive pole vaulting zombie. Comical additions to the fold include a Thriller-era Michael Jackson zombie complete with backing dancers, and an elderly zombie who shields himself with a newspaper.

Most PopCap games rely on their simplicity to hook the player. Plants vs. Zombies is based on this principal to an extent, yet there is no shortage of variation on offer. Not a stage goes by without the game introducing a new plant or an additional type of zombie to keep things fresh. Stages consist of just one screen, but before boredom even begins to set in, the action will switch from day to night, or the front yard to the back yard. There are even a few quick-fire rounds in which the undead bombard your house as one, requiring you to hurl plants off a conveyor belt within a short time window. Gameplay isn't radically different from level-to-level, but the subtle changes of pace are enough to keep you interested throughout.

Controls are entirely touch-screen based. Planting a seed involves nothing more than two taps of the screen, while a single tap is used to collect sunbeam or fell zombies manually on some stages. The developers have done a solid job of optimising the game to the iPhone. There are no responsiveness issues and the layout of the interface is functional. Everything else comes down to tactics. Although there are over 40 plants on offer, you can only harness six per stage, so you must cherry pick the most appropriate based on the environment. For instance, night stages have no natural sunlight, so sunflowers and other solar-generating plants are essential. The backyard stages feature a swimming pool, so you're going to need lily pads to ward off those aquatic zombies.

Presentation is equally competent. The cartoon-style graphics and organic score add to the game's charisma and mimic its PC counterpart flawlessly. It's a bright, colourful offering and the comical sprites lend it a family-friendly aura. While the animation is fairly basic, it's fluid and cannot be faulted given the casual nature of the title.

Some issues arise pertaining to pacing. The game plods along at a laid-back clip, rarely challenging the player at all until the latter stages. Plants vs. Zombies relies entirely on its charm and reward system to hold your attention. Fortunately, PopCap has included that magic ingredient that makes it impossible to resist tackling the next stage to discover what obstacles and bonuses lie in wait.

The causal gaming world may be littered with tower defense sims but rarely do you encounter one with such allure and charisma. As addictive as Bejewelled and as fun as Peggle, Plants vs. Zombies is a stellar example of an effective casual game. It may not be the most challenging title on the App Store, but it's more than capable of taking the sting out of a bus journey or a waiting room stay. This comic horticultural horror will appeal to the whole family.

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Defending the garden from hordes of zombies.
Copyright: PopCap
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